


Talk-a

by wybiegowritey



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gay Zuko (Avatar), M/M, Sokka (Avatar)-centric, radioshow au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:02:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25092817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wybiegowritey/pseuds/wybiegowritey
Summary: Toph Beifong and Sokka own a radioshow together, called Talk-a. Zuko is their producer. For the past five years, Sokka's had it bad for Zuko, and Toph's had enough of his pining.Inspired by a play my friend wrote.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 28
Kudos: 313





	1. Everybody Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Songs used were Everybody Talks by Neon Trees, Anna Sun by Walk the Moon, and Can't Keep My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli.

In the showroom, two mics sat on a table, connected to a mess of wires plugged into a wall. A producer’s booth was adjacent to the showroom, with various buttons and sliders lighting up the tiny room. Above the door, a glowing red sign said “ON AIR”. Outside, it was snowing, but the building was small and cozy. 

In the showroom, a boy and a girl sat in office chairs. They wore headphones, waiting for the music to fade so they could talk about the weather. Their producer sat in the booth, counting them in. The boy began speaking.

“Aaaaaand that was  _ Everybody Talks  _ by Neon Trees. Good morning, and welcome to Talk-a, your one stop shop for all things music here in Omashu! I’m Sokka--”

“--And I’m Toph. The time this morning is 8:10 AM, December 23rd, and, y’all, it is fu--  _ freezing _ here in the studio today,” Toph said, quick to correct herself. Sokka silently sighed, thankful Toph didn’t actually swear. Their show was PG-13, after all. “Our producer, Zuko, is behind the glass pressing buttons in the biggest fur lined parka Sokka has ever seen. I tried it on and the sleeves were so long, I tripped.”

Zuko flashed a sarcastic thumbs up at Sokka, rolling his eyes. Sokka smiled, then leaned on the arm of the chair, coming closer to the mic. “I’m sure you’re all very cold in this  _ atrocious _ 39 degree weather,” Sokka said, eyeing Zuko’s parka. He felt his cheeks flush slightly. “But we have some music to warm you right up. This is  _ Anna Sun, _ by Walk The Moon.”

“I think we could all use a little bit of that,” Toph said. Sokka saw Zuko push some buttons, and they heard the beginning of the song fade in. He and Toph took off their headphones, leaning away from their mics as Zuko slid down the window.

“Thanks for that, Toph,” Zuko said, annoyed. 

“I dunno what to tell you!” Toph snapped. “It’s  _ apparently _ a real show stopping centerpiece of a jacket!”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome!” Toph said, crossing her arms. Sokka giggled. “Really eye catching, just--makes you  _ super _ interesting to look at. Even for a blind girl!”

“I get it, next time I’ll be a little subtler with my clothing choice,” Zuko groaned.

“But then Toph wouldn’t have anything to  _ coat _ pitalize on in her jokes,” Sokka muttered.

There was a second of silence. Sokka watched him piece together the joke. Zuko burst out laughing, radiating a beautiful crooked smile. Sokka smiled back.

“Maybe she should poke fun at you instead,” Zuko said through a fit of giggles. “You’re not even wearing a jacket and it’s 40 degrees outside!”

“Thirty-nine.”

“What?"

“Nothing!” Sokka said, his voice a little too high. He looked down at his hoodie and jeans. “Um, I… I’m not cold. I don’t even need to  _ parka _ myself in front of a heater…?”

Zuko’s giggles turned into snorting. He wiped a tear from his eye, trying to get ahold of himself. “Okay, okay,” Zuko said. “Anyway, you guys have one minute. Run me through it, what’s next?”

“We’ve got a two minute break,” Toph began. “We talk about the weather, and mention the grand opening of that restaurant in Ba Sing Se.”   


“...And?”

“Next song,” Sokka said. Zuko turned his attention to him, and Sokka had to fight to keep his gaze off of him. He looked at the whiteboard with the list of songs that were in the queue. “Uh, I mean,  _ Feeling Lonely _ . Boy Pablo.”

“Good,” Zuko said, checking the buttons and sliders. “Someone’s got their head screwed on straight.”

“I knew about the transition to music,” Toph retorted. “Obviously.”

Zuko rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat. He pulled the window up, and Sokka could see him preparing to bring their mics back up. He admired the look on Zuko’s face when he was focused--his brow slightly furrowed, his lips parted slightly, and--

“Hey. Goo-Goo-Eyes,” Toph muttered, snapping Sokka out of his trance. They pushed themselves to their spots in front of their mics. “Get your head in the game. You can fool Zuko into thinking you’re focused, but you can’t fool me. You gotta stop staring at him, it’s bad for your cool exterior.”

“My cool exterior?  _ What _ cool exterior? How did you--”

“Pretend, moron,” Toph commanded through gritted teeth. “Pretend you’re cool.”

“Riiiiiiiight,” Sokka said mockingly.

“You’re never gonna get him to go out with you if you just gawk at him all day. It’s creepy.”

“Oh, crap, is it?” Sokka asked, his gaze never leaving Zuko’s face. “I just--I was thinking, the cold makes his face a little rosy--”

Zuko held up both hands, counting down from ten. Sokka shut his mouth, then squeezed Toph’s arm to let her know they were being counted in. The music faded, and Sokka took in a breath, and began speaking.

***

Christmas Eve.

It was late in the evening, maybe even the dead of night. The radio station was empty, but Sokka was accompanied by the Christmas decorations on the walls. He sat at his desk, his mouth close to his mic.  _ Can’t Take My Eyes Off You _ by Frankie Valli played in the background. He took a deep breath, then turned on the recording.

“I guess I should start by saying I like you,” Sokka began. “So… that’s the beginning. I’m not gonna talk about, like, all the little things that make you handsome or lovely, it’s more general.”

Where should Sokka start? Ever since he moved to Omashu, there were suddenly many more stars at night. And every time he went out at night and looked up at the stars, he thought about Zuko. 

“I know, I moved here five years ago. That doesn’t sound like I’m saying much, but… that’s how long I’ve had a crush on you. To the extent that… I’m pretty sure it’s not a crush anymore. But I’m getting ahead of myself.”

Sokka leaned back in his seat, unsure of what to say. He thought about the day before, Zuko’s amazing laugh, his snorts, his giggles. He smiled at the memory. “I like that you laugh at my jokes. I know I’m not  _ that _ funny, and I know 90% of my humor is making a bad pun on every situation that arises whether the timing is appropriate or not but… you always laugh, anyway. And it’s a nice laugh, too.”

Sokka’s heart beat louder. What else could he say? Zuko was sweet. He’d watched Zuko call his uncle every day as he left work, and coo over pictures of his cats, and Zuko smiled like someone who had a heart full of nothing but care and kindness. Sokka believed it was a crime Zuko wasn’t already dating someone. Whenever Sokka thought about it, that was more his own fault than anyone else’s. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” he said. “There are a lot of things I could say about you, but I really don’t think this is how I should do it. I want to say them  _ to _ you, to your face. But I don’t want to scare you away or be weird, so I’m recording this. Friday, around eight, after work, I want to go on that hike I promised I would. With you. As a date.”

He stopped the recording and sighed. He pressed a button, deleting the recording. Leaning back in his seat, he looked out the window, watching the stars twinkle in and out of existence.

_ Who am I kidding? _


	2. All I Want For Christmas Is A Cafe Mocha

December 29th.

It was quite early in the morning, and Zuko was alone in the studio. He was removing the Christmas decorations, putting them in boxes. He tore down a sprig of mistletoe, sighing, “Some Christmas.”To summarize Zuko simply: he was lonely, romantically inept, socially awkward, and a workaholic. He felt that he didn’t really have anything except his work. Not a whole lot of people had ever bothered to hold anything more than a polite conversation with him.

Except Sokka, but Zuko got the feeling that he weirded him out; Sokka was always skittish. Which, to Zuko, sucked, because he thought that Sokka was really handsome. He loved the way Sokka’s eyes sparkled whenever he got riled up about something he loved, like boomerangs, or the way daggers are formed, or… almost anything. When he and Toph were on air, Sokka seemed confident and cool. For all his talk about how he and Zuko should grab coffee or tea, or go hiking together, Zuko didn’t think Sokka actually liked him. 

Zuko had tons of acquaintances. But he didn’t really have friends. Not like Sokka and Toph were friends. He felt like the last five years for the duo had been this epic buddy comedy and he was their nagging boss who tried too hard to be cool. 

Zuko blinked, snapping himself out of his thoughts. _I have to get going,_ he thought. _Toph’s waiting at the cafe._ He shoved the rest of the decorations in the box, sealed it, and placed it in the storage closet. He walked to his car, taking the driver’s seat and buckling his seatbelt. He watched the snow fall lazily from the sky.

He turned on the car, and slowly backed out of the parking lot. He carefully drove on the main road through the forest, admiring the snow stuck on the trees and the way the wind made the branches sway. _Sokka loves this weather._

By the time he turned onto the street the cafe was located on, the sidewalks were packed with cars. It took him forever to find a parking spot. He walked four blocks to get to the shop, which was a cozy, 80’s style cafe, with black and white checkered wallpaper here and there on the walls. The other parts of the walls were painted baby blue, with posters and Christmas lights hanging off of them. He spotted Toph waiting in a booth in the back. She’d already ordered their favorites; the cafe mochas with whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top, and she’d ordered a melted tuna sandwich for herself. He had hot bagels with cream cheese and cucumbers waiting for him.

“Hey, Toph,” he said, shivering. He sat across from her and took a bite from his food. “Sorry I’m late. Had to find parking.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “Did you do anything for Christmas?”

“Not really,” he said. “Just hung out with my uncle. He made me play pai sho with him and his friends. What about you?”

“Oh, nothing much either,” Toph said boredly. “Sokka and his sister came over to celebrate. Oh, and I got approved for getting a guide dog. I’m gonna start training in a few days.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Zuko said enthusiastically. Toph had been going back and forth over getting a guide dog for about a year, and just recently had applied for one. When she told Sokka and Zuko, the three of them celebrated by getting cake and going to the dog park. Sokka also didn’t shut up about it on their show--Zuko didn’t want to stop him. He seemed so excited to talk about his friends, and Toph seemed happy to talk about it with him.

“So.. did Sokka call you recently?” Toph asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.

Zuko felt his cheeks flush a little. “No, why?”

Toph frowned. “Nothing,” she said, but she sounded annoyed. “Just wondering.”

“Well, you didn’t call me either,” Zuko pointed out.

“I did too! I invited you to breakfast,” Toph snapped. “That’s why we’re here.”

“Riiiight,” Zuko said. He looked down at his cup and took a big gulp. They started talking about more segments for the radioshow, then something about Sokka and his stupid puns, and then they were finished with their food.

After Zuko dropped Toph off at her house, he started thinking about what Toph had asked him. _Did Sokka call you recently?_ Sokka didn’t seem like the type to call him, even if it was just to wish him a good Christmas or a happy birthday. Zuko could tell Sokka preferred saying those things in person over calling or texting them, anyways.

Plus, not a lot of people would call Zuko for an actual conversation, anyways. He knew that plenty of people liked him, but he was never anyone’s number one. The only thing he was number one at was running a soundboard or wearing appalling parkas. Which was fine. He was happy. He could take or leave friends, he always liked being alone. Being alone was peaceful. He was happy with that.

But it did make him wonder, though, why he yearned for Sokka if he liked being alone so much.


	3. Cosmic Love

New Year’s Day.

The sun’s rays were just starting to peek through the trees surrounding the station. Toph and Sokka were sitting in the recording room with styrofoam cups of coffee. Zuko had texted Sokka that he was stuck in early morning traffic, so he’d be late. They’d probably have to start a few minutes later than intended. 

Sokka wondered how Zuko’s Christmas was. He’d meant to text him, but thought it would be too forward or strange to just text someone, especially Zuko, out of the blue. 

“Happy New Year, buddy,” Toph said, snapping Sokka out of his thoughts.

“Uh… yeah,” Sokka said dejectedly. “Happy New Year, Toph.”

“Got any resolutions?”

“Uh…” Sokka looked down at his cup, which was almost full to the brim with coffee. “I was gonna cut down on my caffeine intake.”

“Right, that’s why you just made coffee.”

A minute of bitter, awkward silence went by. “Oh!” Sokka exclaimed, remembering his manners. “How about you, Toph?”

“Thank you for asking, Sokka, I’m glad you’re interested,” Toph said with a sarcastic smile. “I’m going to work out more often. I took a run this morning with my neighbor.”  
  
Sokka looked outside the window, the snowy landscape staring back at him. “In this weather?” 

Toph then pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Now that the niceties are out of the way, I have an important question,” she began. “Are you _actually_ going to ask Zuko out? Because you said you were going to after Christmas, which you did not. Then you said you would invite him to spend New Years Eve with you, which you did not, and you called me drunk while home alone with your cats while I was getting _very_ friendly with a very nice girl at the house party I was at, and I had to do a whole lightning operation to get her phone number so I could come spend the night with you because I’m your friend and I love you. But if you’re going to keep calling me while I’m scoring a date, I’d rather you get this over with!”   
  
“...Did you call her?” Sokka asked.

“This is not about me,” Toph said. “But of course I did, and she was very excited about it. We’re going to go get lunch tomorrow at the sandwich shop by the bowling alley because she’s a whole doctor with a degree and shit and Tuesdays are her day off.”

“Congrats.”

“Thank you. _I’m_ interrogating _you_ , though,” Toph snapped. “You’ve been procrastinating on this for _five years_ now, Sokka, I don’t want your feelings to fester and then you end up wasting your life away and miss other opportunities because you never gave _this_ a shot.”   
  
Sokka couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He wasn’t like Toph. He couldn’t just go up to someone and get their number in five minutes. He couldn’t be confident, even if he acted like it. He couldn’t be cool. He’d always be that one guy in the back, who was too shy to speak up, but had the dumbest jokes in the universe. He would always just be Sokka.

“I-I’m not like you, Toph,” Sokka stuttered. “I can’t do all the things you can do. I can’t just come up with good and witty jokes on the spot. I can’t be _you_. I--”

“You overthink everything,” Toph retorted. “That’s not an excuse. Don’t think, Sokka, just do what your heart tells you.”

“My heart tells me to… _wait_ . Wait for the right time.”   
  
“There’s never going to be a right time,” Toph said. “The right time is _now_ . Whatever the situation, whatever the conversation, it’s about the _now_ .”   
  
“The now… and what about the immediately after?” Sokka asked rhetorically. He let out a loud sigh, putting his head in his hands. “As in _right now_ I ask him out, and immediately after he says no, and I’m heartbroken. I become a total recluse and I can never come to work, but I love this job, so I have no choice but to change my name, leave town and get a gig in some other small town in the middle of the woods with one radio station and a producer who makes my heart jump into my throat so it feels like I can’t speak like a normal person and I--”

“Fuck, dude,” Toph muttered, rubbing her temples.  
  
“What?” Sokka asked.

“Nothing. I just forget how bad you got it, sometimes,” Toph replied. “I forget how much you care about him and his opinion of you. Well, _everyone’s_ opinion of you, but… Zuko’s specifically. I try not to care what people think of me.”

Sokka chuckled. “I know that.”   
  
“I know you can’t snap your fingers and be like me,” Toph said, clasping her fingers together. “So how about this. Valentine’s Day, we get some flowers for the studio, play some romantic, cheesy songs. I’ll come up with a great reason to get you into that booth during our break, and make you go for it.”   
  
“You’d… you’d do all that?”   
  
“I am _sick_ of your pining,” she groaned. “And I love you, dork. I’ll do anything you need. And, trust me, you _need_ this.”

He grinned slightly. Toph pulled him into a hug, and he squeezed her a little too tightly. “You really don’t have to play wingman to my bullshi--”

“Don’t say another word about it,” she interrupted, patting his back. They pulled out of the hug. “Zuko’ll be here in a few minutes, so we need to get ready. But after work we’ll talk, okay?”

  
“Yeah. Okay,” Sokka said with a small laugh.

***

Valentine’s Day.

Because of Toph’s amazing fashion sense, Sokka was more dressed up than usual. Instead of his blue sweatshirt and cuffed jeans with sneakers, Toph made him wear a short sleeved shirt with a flannel jacket. He tugged nervously at the bracelet wrapped around his wrist.

Zuko was in the booth, as always, fiddling with the soundboard. To Sokka he looked ungodly handsome in that dark red shirt with the black jean jacket. He looked emo, but Sokka didn’t care. There was a long list of songs queued up, meaning that they’d get a longer break than usual. _Cosmic Love_ by Florence and the Machine was playing in the back of Sokka’s head.

Toph snapped at Sokka to pay attention, then pretended to fuss with his headphones. She gave a small countdown to let him know their plan was underway. 

“Ugh, Zuko!” Toph called when she got to one. “One side of Sokka’s headset isn’t working.”

Zuko didn’t look up. “Just bring it here,” he said. Sokka sucked in a breath, pushing himself out of his chair. He stepped out of the recording room and into the booth. Zuko raised his arm, his hand splayed, expectant for the headphones. Sokka had the urge to intertwine their fingers. “Let me look at it.”

“Uh, yep,” Sokka said, handing the headphones over. Zuko started to scrutinize the headphones, and Sokka gulped. “So… you have plans today?”

“Not really.”

“Cool. Cool. Me neither.”

A beat. Zuko looked up. “Really?” he asked incredulously.

“Uh… no. I mean, yeah,” Sokka said, a little bit of confidence making its way to his heart. “I don’t really subscribe to the whole… capitalist holiday. It’s so focused on the material act of gift giving, it’s not really my thing.” 

“Yeah. Me neither,” Zuko said after a minute, one corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile. “I dunno when romantic gestures had to be about flowers and chocolate. And it’s not like either of us have the money lying around to get whole bouquets for fun.”

Sokka laughed. “Fair point. I think…” He trailed off, and with a dawning realization, he knew this moment wasn’t it. He took a deep breath. “It doesn’t really have as much truth to it if you’re making a gesture because someone else told you how it should be done. I’m more about doing things from the heart.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Zuko said. There was a small pause, and then Zuko handed him the headphones. “Well, um, your headphones look fine to me. Maybe something’s connected wrong somewhere. Double check on your end, and I will on mine. Worst case scenario, tough it out to the end of the day and I’ll figure it out later. Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” Sokka replied. “I’d hate to be a head _phone-_ ache.”

He tapped the headphones, grinning cheesily. Zuko burst out laughing. “Come on,” he said. “Get back to work. We can chat later.”

Sokka nodded, then exited the booth. He plopped next to Toph in front of the mics, and she turned in his direction expectantly. He shook his head.

“Nope,” he said. “I didn’t need all this work.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Toph asked, crossing her arms.  
  
“It means this is something I have to do my way,” Sokka replied. “This is _my_ life, it’s _my_ crush, and whatever move I make, I don’t want someone else to make it for me.” 

“Fine,” Toph said after a minute, obviously disappointed. “Whatever.”  
  
“Toph, don’t… _do that_ ,” he sighed. _“_ This is the first time in, like, months I’ve said _no_ to someone. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” Toph admitted. She smiled. “I’m proud of you, I guess. If there’s anything I can get behind, it’s you doing things your way and not taking crap from anyone else. Including me.”  
  
“Thank you,” Sokka said with a small laugh. “Oh my god, I thought you were gonna kill me.”

“I still might,” Toph said. “But not while we’re on the clock.”


	4. Carry On, Wayward Son

A few weeks later, Sokka and Toph were sitting in the station, waiting for the queued songs to end. Sokka was slumped in his chair, staring at the boring, bare wall. _Creep_ by Radiohead was nearing its end. Toph said something about the song being depressing. Sokka mumbled a weak “mhm”. 

Sokka eyed the booth, just in time. Zuko displayed his hands, counting them in. Sokka quickly shoved his headphones on, squeezing Toph’s arm in warning. They scooted closer to their mics as Zuko reached one.   


“And that was  _ Creep _ by Radiohead,” Toph began. “To anyone feeling that song a little hard right now, my heart goes out to you.”   


“Mine too,” Sokka added on. “It can be hard to watch someone from afar and know they’ll never look at you the same way, and I understand. I…”

“You okay, Sokka?” Toph asked.

Sokka felt a series of emotions, mostly fear, run through his body. He was staring into the booth, unable to see Zuko all that well because of the glare of the sun through the window. He had the urge to talk about his recent shenanigans involving Zuko and Toph, or just stick by the script. With a burst of courage, he thought,  _ Fuck the script. _

“I’ve watched someone distantly for years, and never made a move,” Sokka said. “This may come as a shock but I’m… generally a pretty passive person in my own life. I’m afraid to take action and afraid to ask for what I want and afraid to stick up for myself. And most of all, I’m afraid to ask someone out. It seems like such a small thing, you know, to say ‘Hey, do you maybe wanna get dinner sometime?’ Or maybe lunch, you know, even more casual. But I’m afraid. I’m afraid because… this isn’t a casual thing.”

He saw Zuko’s head turn to him, and his expression was a mix of shock and confusion, and Sokka suddenly felt mortified. Toph had a similar look on her face, but urged Sokka to keep going, even though this was unplanned and unscripted.

“Zuko, I love you,” Sokka said finally. “I am in love with you. I think? It’s scary, you know, to think I could screw up whatever… semblance at a working relationship we have. I’m looking at you in the booth and I can’t read your face and it’s literally terrifying and the entire reason why I didn’t do this earlier.”

But then Zuko smiled. It was a small one, but big enough for Sokka to see, and he felt a sliver of hope.

“You’re smiling,” he continued, relief flooding through his body. “I don’t know what that means. You either think this is incredibly amusing or… something else.  _ Okay _ . I’m gonna finish up here, we have another song to get to--oh! Do you want to go hiking? We’ve talked about doing night hikes, you’ve been really into them as long as you’ve lived here- we can do one together. I’ll bring food, we’ll make a picnic out of it, uh--and we can just--I’m not spitballing a time and place on air--” Sokka gasped with the realization--“ _ Oh my god, I’m on air _ \--just, can you tell me when this is done? But do you want to? Oh god.  _ Fuck.  _ Oh, I can’t say that, I--”

He could see Zuko nodding hurriedly, beaming with enthusiasm. Sokka took off his headphones and rushed into the booth, and they started talking. He vaguely registered Toph closing out the segment, and  _ Carry On Wayward Son _ by Kansas started playing over the speakers.


	5. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Thank you so much for the support for this fic!! I enjoyed writing this--I think I could have done better, but hey, first ATLA fic :). I got a feel for the characters and how I liked to write them, at least.
> 
> I would also like to thank my beta, @tessavioletandchill on tumblr. I love you, Alex! <3

Sokka and Zuko’s first date was the nighthike. They were on the outskirts of Omashu, the stars brighter than the crescent moon. They carefully packed their bags, taking a walk through the forests, joking and laughing loudly.

Sokka had slipped in some mud, landing on his bum. Zuko helped him to standing, and they stood there hand in hand, the trees’ branches swaying in the breeze. They closed the distance between them, sharing a constellation kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, give it some kudos, leave a comment. Consider following me on tumblr: wybiegowritey !


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